The Role of Foreign Money

On 27 May 2015—shortly after the general election—LSE London held a small, specialist workshop on the role of housing associations in accelerating development in London. Attendees included chief executives, finance directors, trade bodies, local authority officials and other stakeholders and commentators. The conversation focused on the possibilities, barriers and in particular the incentives and risks that Housing Associations perceive in expanding housing investment. There was general agreement that Housing Associations had a… Read More

On the 27th of February 2015, a group of researchers and housing stakeholders visited the Greenwich Peninsula to learn more about the role of foreign investment in accelerating new residential development in London.

A visit to a large residential development site on the river in central London one recent morning raised a number of important issues about what enables successful development and what still constrains additional investment: First, large developments of apartments and associated infrastructure need off-plan sales to give the developer financial security. The larger the development the greater the need for these sales – as once the development is started it is extremely… Read More

On February 19th – Chinese New Year – LSE London held a workshop on the potential role of international money in accelerating housing development in London. The conclusion was that foreign money can definitely help to bring forward development and in current conditions may well be the only way to achieve ambitious housing targets in London. However there are barriers to expanding their involvement, not least public attitudes to foreign buyers and… Read More

Christine Whitehead and Tony Travers along with Kath Scanlon and Melissa Fernandez of LSE London produced the report ‘Creating Conditions for Growth’ for Berkeley Group. It discusses the conditions necessary to stimulate house building, including the role played by foreign investment. Click here to read the report.

International investment in the UK economy is normally highly prized. However international investment in residential property is at best regarded with suspicion and at worst seen as a disaster. The majority of statistics on the role of international investors in residential property come from the major estate agents and concentrate mainly on prime locations in central London. One big issue in understanding these statistics is that the definition of prime changes over… Read More